Mohja Kahf
Mohja Kahf (born 1967) is an Arab-American poet and academic. Life Kahf was born in Damascus, Syria. She moved with her family to the United States in 1971. Her family has been involved in Syrian opposition politics, a theme reflected in the life of her character Khadra of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. She earned Ph.D. in comparative literature from Rutgers University. She is an associate professor of comparative literature of the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Writing Kahf's work explores themes of cultural dissonance and overlap between Muslim-American and other communities, both religious and secular. Islam, morality, modesty, gender and gender-relations, sexuality, politics, and especially identity are important aspects of her work. Recognition Her debut book of poetry, E-mails From Scheherazad, was a finalist for the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize. Publcations Poetry *''E-mails from Scheherazad''. Gainesville, FL; University Press of Florida, 2003. Novel *''The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf: A novel''. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2006. Non-fiction *''Western Representations of the Muslim Woman: From termagant to odalisque''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1999. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Mohja Kahf, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 13, 2015. Articles & book chapters *"From Her Royal Bod the Robe Was Removed: The Trauma of Forced Unveiling in the Middle East" in Jennifer Heat, ed., The Veil (UC Berkeley, 2008). *"Braiding the Stories: Women's Eloquence in the Early Islamic Era" in Gisela Webb, ed., Windows of Faith: Muslim Women's Scholarship and Activism (Syracuse UP, 2000). *"Packaging Huda: Sha'rawi's Memoirs in the US Reading Environment" in Amal Amireh & Lisa Suhair Majaj, ed., Going Global: The Transitional Reception of Third World Women Writers (Garland, 2000) *"Politics and Erotics in Nizar Kabbani's Poetry: From the Sultan's Wife to the Lady Friend" World Literature Today, Winter 2000. *"The Silences of Contemporary Syrian Literature" World Literature Today, Spring 2001. "Writing on Muslim Gender Issues in the West Today: Slipping Past the Pity Committee," in Rabab Abdal Hadi, ed., Studies in Arab American Feminisms (forthcoming). See also * List of U.S. poets References *Sabiha Sorgun, “‘Into the state of pure surrender’: Spirituality in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf,” 30th Annual Meeting of Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, February 25–28, 2009. Albuquerque, NM. Notes External links ;Poems * Mohja Kahf b. 1967 at the Poetry Foundation ;Prose * Kahf, Mohja. "Spare Me The Sermon On Muslim Women," Washington Post, October 5, 2008 ;Audio / video * Mohja Kahf at YouTube ;Books *Mohja Kahf at Amazon.com ;About * Mohja Kahf at the University of Arkansas * MacFarquhar, Neil. "She Carries Weapons, They Are Called Words," New York Times, May 12, 2007. Category:1967 births Category:American writers of Arab descent Category:Muslim writers Category:Muslim poets Category:American people of Syrian descent Category:University of Arkansas faculty Category:Syrian emigrants to the United States Category:People from Damascus Category:Syrian poets Category:Living people Category:American poets of Arab descent Category:American poets Category:Rutgers University alumni Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:American women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets